Yet Another Awesome New Beginning!!!

HAPPY MONDAY PALS!!!  A little while back I had mentioned Suz & I were planning to hit it together on the program she has been staging through for ages but she double checked with the author of it & he changed our minds, stating the month long segments really must be run in order so we would not be doing the same things at all. Right about the same time an awesome couple, who she had met through a now defunct fitness forum, contacted her about a fitness site they have launched that, knowing what an awesomely inspirational iron grinding sweetheart she is, they were hoping she would be interested in joining. She forwarded the link to me last week, while I was kicking back from Helgas & working crazy side job hours, & I gave it a solid once over agreeing it looks VERY thorough, organized & awesome! The founding couple have both been at it a few years & have proven their theories both personally as well as through MANY folks they have trained so once she gets home from visiting family in NM Suz & I are going to tear into that program together instead!

Like SOOO many programs, it is structured in 12 week segments which will bring us within 2 weeks of her birthday, and the goal date for my 40LB challenge! We have decided this is week zero since she is still traveling until Tuesday night plus the way the program is structured you have initial homework you MUST get through before you can tear into it, ensuring your mindset, focus & dedication are where they need to be first.

I began reading the program info this weekend, setup my profile & posted up my intro this AM & have begun my homework but all 12 weeks worth of workouts are included with the info so I am also using this week to find my baselines as this will be the first time I have ever followed a workout routine entirely of someone elses making! If you’re interested in checking it out it is located at:

http://ficx.me/

The first week’s routine goes:

Mon; chest, shoulders, upper back, BIs & TRIs

Tues; HIIT

Wed; LEG DAY!

Thur; Endurance cardio

Fri; Repeat Monday

Sat; HIIT, Abs & lower back

What made today so different, besides having laid out of the gym for a week, was that in this weeks routine you are to run the entire program as (2) 12 rep sets warmup per station all the way through without rest then repeat (2) more sets of every station without rest at a weight that produces absolute failure by 12 reps per set each time even if the last couple of reps require SLIGHT rest & an OMG grind to complete. As I have recently REALLY been enjoying the pyramid style of sets I got greedy & the last 2 or 3 reps of set 3 & the last 3 or 4 reps of set 4 were OMG grinders producing a sweatfest of epic proportion! The pic below cannot do it justice as there was sweat dripping off my elbows & I was STILL sweating like an old Clydesdale an hour AFTER my shower so it definitely got the old furnace cranking again!

Rock on pals!!! We are only 18 days from PCB2 & counting them down!!!

Okay, so here it is Friday & just 28 days to PCB2!!! It has been a weird week on this end. The side job had one screw up after another this week so I did not work evenings Mon-Wed but finally got back after it last night & it felt good to get back in the routine! Courtesy of the off evenings I have been making a concerted effort to pull 30-60 extra minutes of sack time each night but for some reason have been awakening feeling WAY more tired than usual, WTF?!?!?

My workouts this week have been rock solid with several PRs & diet has not had any major catastrophes that come to mind but this morning while dragging @zz getting around for Helgas to crank core & cardio it hit me that I am just freaking whooped & of all weeks, with 3 nights off, what gives?!?!?

I have been reading the Metabolic Masterpiece (MM) program book Suz has been kicking tail using & we have decided to hit it together immediately following her family visit to NM next week as she will be ready to tackle the next workout routine & supposedly it does not matter what order you take them in so I am gonna jump in with all 4 paws, claws bared, & see what gives BUT next week while Suz visits family I am going to finish the book & take 1 week of self-imposed forced gym downtime, shooting for an OMG 8 hours nightly of sack time if it kills me!

I laid out of the gym for 4 weeks with my whiney lumbar back in January & I have hit it nearly every day since except when work had me traveling to Banjoland those couple days. I think by taking some forced rest I will be able to give MM a much better running effort. Hating to lose 1 of the 4 weeks remaining until PCB I am going to do my best to get in 30ish minutes walking at lunchtime daily & am also going to dial back from 2400-2700 calories down to 1800-2000 calories daily which will definitely require focus & discipline but it MUST be done!

One of the things MMs author requires is that before you plan 1 nutritional day his way, before you grind the first pound in the program, that you identify exactly what you are dedicated enough to do to succeed & why! While reading the book I promised Suz I would have that done by today so here goes!

What I am willing to do to succeed:

Give diet the focus it requires, make my schedule allow at least 6 hours sleep nightly, follow the workouts faithfully every morning (which will be tough as I have NEVER followed anyone elses workouts!), give the positive mental imagery required a fair shake & maintain his DO do NOT try attitude, take the progress pictures weights & measures required, Blog religiously & honestly regarding the progress even if it does not seem adequate in the beginning, do my dammedest to be as positive a motivator for Suz as she has been for me.

Why I am willing to do the above:

Lets face it pals, I am not getting any younger & this fitness journey will never be any easier than it is RFN! I NEED to get my progress on track & re-acquire the strong, healthy, body that that 21 year old punk threw away years ago LOL! Given my shoulder, back, knee & ankle issues of the past couple years it has become painfully obvious that carrying this extra person who has leeched onto my frame sucks & he needs to go!!! I owe it to myself, those I matter to & those who matter to me, to be the very best person I can be & that includes avoiding becoming an ailing physical burden down the road. That effort has been halfheartedly ongoing for a couple years now but it requires a refocusing, a regrouping & some reinforcement in order to maximize my results which begins NOW!

Rock on pals! Next week will prolly be rather quiet with possible postings of epiphanies along with diet & cardio efforts but hide & watch, 30 April 2012 is gonna start an entirely new chapter in this book called life, Suz has even suggested we should call it another book entirely; Life, Volume 2!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9RRBGFO1nI